


Hot Wheels

by utsu



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Competition, Gen, Humor, action-packed non-stop shenanigans featuring Bokuto and Kuroo and their Heelys, how did this fic even happen to me, tripped and fell in my Heelys Jesus take the wheelys, veiled hints at oikurodai if you squint so hard your eyes are actually closed and you're dreaming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-13
Updated: 2014-09-13
Packaged: 2018-02-17 07:14:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2301056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/utsu/pseuds/utsu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kuroo is a different person when he wears his Heelys. </p><p>They call him...Hot Wheels.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hot Wheels

The sun streams in through his window and burns a hot trail up the slouched line of his back as the hour hand clicks into place, signaling that it was time for him to head over to the skate park. He had an hour before it opened and he liked to get there before the person on the opening shift even got to the door. He also liked to make sure that he beat Bokuto there; since their houses were equal distance away from the skate park and they’d set the limit that the earliest they could leave their respective houses was an hour, on the dot.

Kuroo Tetsurou slowly sat up from tying his laces, lifting his body from the bed and stretching his shoulders up and over his head, listening to the methodical cracks in the joints. He twisted his body and made sure his back was thoroughly loosened up as well, not wanting to show up at the skate park stiff as a board—especially since he’d woken up that morning feeling like a victor before his eyes had even opened. Today was going to be special—he could feel it. He was going to win.

He double-checked all of his safety gear one last time: securing his wrist guards, his elbow pads, his knee pads, and making sure the buckle beneath his chin was secured so that his helmet wouldn’t fall off from any intense tricks. It was a little battered, a little scuffed, the solid red of it marked with several black and grey scrapes from times when he’d fallen head first across the asphalt. But he’d put stickers over some of the scratches and, if he was being honest, had left some of them purposely uncovered because they made him feel badass. Not that his stickers weren’t badass either! There were a couple Spitfire flames because _obviously,_ a plain black cat sticker, three of those people-shaped stickers that families put on the back windows of their vehicles because Kuroo thought they looked pretty cool lining the bottom of his helmet on one side, and even an Enjoi panda! Needless to say, he’d prepared well over the years.

Kuroo grinned as he grabbed his satchel from his kitchen counter and slipped it over his head, adjusting the strap on his shoulder until it was set comfortably in place. He rubbed his fingertips over his lucky pin, a picture of Vin Diesel he’d printed off of the Internet and fashioned into a makeshift pin all on his own some years prior. He’d even hand drawn three X’s across the bottom after his favorite movie, Triple X, starring Vin Diesel. It wasn’t an exact science, but one time Kuroo actually forgot to rub his fingers over the homemade pin before racing Bokuto to the skate park and he’d not only lost, but he’d almost broke his ankle by falling into a sewage pipe that construction workers had left ajar.

He never forgot to pay homage to his lucky pin again.

Striding with his long, lithe legs over to his front door, he double-checked his satchel, making sure that his camcorder was inside. He pulled it out and checked the battery, smirking when he saw the little icon showing that it was full. He tucked it back into his bag and stepped out of his apartment, turning around to lock the door and inhaling the fresh scents of the outdoors. With just a single sniff, he could tell his neighbors had forgotten to take their garbage out to the dumpster where the trash truck came by, and that they had recently had cod fish for dinner. His stomach turned.

At the top of his stairs, just one floor above ground level, he stretched his legs and hips out, pausing briefly to wave at one of his emerging neighbors, an elderly woman named Beth who thought he was a shining star.

“Heading to the park again, Kuroo?” she called softly, her voice wobbly. He nodded once, grinning.

“Meeting that bucket boy again?” she inquired, utterly sincere. Kuroo nodded again, hesitating.

“His name’s Bokuto,” he added, his tone gentle so as to soften the reproof. Beth seemed surprised, even though this was a daily occurrence and she somehow forgot Bokuto’s name literally every morning.

“Right, right.” she agreed, smiling at him from across the way, leaning one hand on her railing. The first week that Kuroo had moved into this apartment complex he’d found four cats on her landing drinking out of almost-empty milk saucers. He’d immediately gone into his place and retrieved his two percent milk, heading over and refilling their dishes with a content smile. He’d been crouching over them, watching them drink when Beth had opened the door, surprising the both of them. That had been the first time that they’d met, and they’d been distant friends ever since. He’d later found out that she had thirteen cats total, but was only officially allowed to have four, so the others were outdoors cats that were still hers, unless their landlordasked. Then suddenly Beth had never even seen any other cats around. Kuroo liked her cats. Beth wasn’t so bad either, besides the fact that she always smelled like cottage cheese.

“I’m heading out now,” Kuroo called, turning slightly as he watched Beth nod in response. Before he could completely turn away, she called out to him once more.

“Oh, and one more thing,” she said, smiling kindly and adjusting her glasses when he turned back to her curiously. He was already five minutes behind schedule, his lips turning down into a competitive frown at the thought of how far ahead Bokuto must’ve already been. Kuroo wasn’t certain, but he didn’t think that Bokuto had any old neighbors who hindered his progress with small talk and pleasantries, though there had been that one time that the neighborhood kids had taunted Bokuto as he passed them and he’d in turn challenged them to a game of street hockey, which had only added to his already predestined loss to Kuroo. He’d whooped them, though.

Beth lifted a hand to wave at him, turning to head back into her apartment though not before leaving him with some parting words of encouragement, as she always did.

“Destroy that bucket boy, Kuroo.”

Kuroo stared at her, eyes wide and shining with the fire that her confidence in his abilities had instilled in him. He nodded gravely, silently promising her that he would reign supreme. She headed back into her apartment and Kuroo took his stairs three at a time going down, making sure to use only the toe portion of his shoes, his long legs bounding like a gazelle until he landed crouched on the ground level, flipping his head up and smirking wide.

With speed unparalleled, he pushed off and balanced all of his weight on his heels, where the two wheels strategically placed in his Heelys resided, and felt the wind blow through his hair as he began the Heelys race to the skate park—smiling so wide it was possible he might ingest a few bugs on the way and feeling a deep burn in his chest that might’ve been indigestion but he was pretty sure was just the inner flames of his determination.

They didn’t call him Hot Wheels for nothing.

✧

Even with his five-minute head start, Bokuto stood no chance against the pure speed and agility that Kuroo wielded on his Heelys. Kuroo had been tearing up the city with his Heelys for years now, whereas Bokuto had only recently found out that Heelys existed in the first place. He’d run into Kuroo in the middle of some abandoned buildings—covered in graffiti with pieces of gum stuck to the walls and floor—and had watched with star-speckled eyes as Kuroo twirled like a ballerina but with _sneakers_. It had been obvious that Kuroo was training his parkour skills, but somehow, he hadn’t questioned Bokuto’s presence there in the midst of a bunch of abandoned buildings.

(Apparently it was a good location to bird watch)

Kuroo had laughed at his simplicity and showed him the wheels hidden strategically under the soles, smirking and explaining that when he was on flat ground where there were barely any cracks or rocks, he could go up to fifteen miles per hour. One time he was pretty certain he’d gotten up to twenty-two miles per hour but his timer had malfunctioned or something and he had this rule with himself where he could only record the times that he captured on his timer. He was still trying to re-create that one, though. He wouldn’t give up. He kept his spreadsheet of times pinned to the corkboard beside his bed, adding new recordings every day that he could, even if he didn’t improve.

Bokuto had been skeptical at first, disbelieving that Kuroo could actually go that fast. Kuroo had brought him home with him that same day, pulling a chair up to his computer desk and pulling up all of his Heelys bookmarks. He showed Bokuto the professional Heelys racers who had managed to go up to thirty-two miles per hour on their Heelys, and the professionals who did tricks and caught major air at resident skate parks. He’d showed him all his favorite sites and all of his idols, explaining seriously that competing with Heelys wasn’t just a sport. It was a lifestyle; one that he was trying desperately to incorporate and improve at.

Bokuto had sat wide-eyed and in awe, reading through the article that explained the professionals’ top speed of thirty-two miles per hour.

“That’s funny,” he’d said, pointing to the computer and getting an oily fingerprint on the screen that made Kuroo scowl. “They can go so fast but this guy is calling them ‘cruise shoes.’ That’s kinda dumb.”

Kuroo had scowled, zeroing in on the exact line that Bokuto had been mentioning because he hated it so much he knew exactly where it was. _Shoes that cruise_ , it said.

Kuroo had looked on distastefully. He didn’t _cruise_. He was built for speed.

After that, Bokuto had wanted a pair of Heelys badly enough that he began working for them the very next day. He spent two and a half months washing all of his neighbors’ cars and babysitting their children (which mostly involved him challenging them all to street hockey) for small amounts of pay until finally he was able to afford his very own pair, flaunting them to Kuroo the same day he purchased them. Kuroo had been excited for him, if a little envious of Bokuto’s brand spanking new pair. He’d glanced over at his worn and scuffed black ones with their red highlights before straightening his posture and mumbling that his head _character_ , so. They were still the best.

“Did you read your equipment checklist?” Kuroo asked, bringing himself back to the present in time to see that Bokuto was still scowling from his loss. Bokuto adjusted his helmet slightly, his wide eyes bright in anticipation for the employee to open the gates. They were still ten minutes early, but the anticipation that built while they were waiting to be let inside—the very _first_ ones to be let inside, mind you—always inspired them to be even more enthusiastic in their training. Kuroo was glad that Bokuto both understood and appreciated the sentiment of being the first to show up at the skate park, so that they were basically the kings of the park.

Kuroo knew that his know-how about the skate park was legitimate, too. He’d researched it. When he’d first gotten his Heelys, he’d double-checked that the park opened at 8am so often that even now, years later, whenever he typed in “what time does” Google automatically supplied him with _the skate park open_. Just thinking about it made Kuroo smirk.

There were actually several searches that came up even now, years later, that he’d searched religiously when he’d first gotten into Heelys. Most notably: 

How do I change my heelys wheels  
How do I change my heelys wheels carefully without damaging them  
Do heelys come in red  
Do I need to wear a helmet with heelys  
Hwo fast can heelys go?  
Guinness world record Heelys speed?

Whenever any of them popped up before he could even finish whatever he was typing, Kuroo would feel a spike of pride in how far he’d come. Bokuto had asked him once if he found it embarrassing, but he’d just looked at his friend indifferently. He obviously wouldn’t understand, since he had Kuroo to show him the ropes of his own Heelys, rather than having to learn everything on his own and from Internet how-to guides.

“Of course I did!” Bokuto side-eyed him, both parts hurt and suspicious at the accusation.

“Did you?”

Kuroo gave him an incredulous look. It was the kind of look where you’re not quite certain if they actually had rolled their eyes at you or if the lines of their expression were just so disdainful that they didn’t even have to, but you were left _thinking_ that they had. Bokuto frowned.

“Of _course_. I read the checklist every morning before I even get dressed.” Kuroo wanted to roll his eyes, he really did. It was like Bokuto continually forgot how invested Kuroo was in this sport.

“Woah,” Bokuto breathed, eyes wide and impressed. Kuroo smiled at him, satisfied and content with his lot. They waited there until the employee came to unlock the front gate they were standing at, eyes nearly crossing when he saw the two patrons already nearly pressed through the gates.

“Ohohoho, so today it’s Ushijima-san!” Bokuto chirps in greeting, his smile wide and beaming. Ushijima scowls at them, jostling the lock on the gate as he flicked the key and undid the chain. He wasn’t surprised in the slightest that Bokuto knew his name, considering that Kuroo and Bokuto were at the skate park literally all week, and most often at the gate before opening time, and sometimes even at the crack of dawn when literally no one was even awake yet. Kuroo greeted Ushijima with a small smile, but his eyes were big and gleaming like he was close to saying thanks.

“Good morning.” Ushijima returned reluctantly, his good manners getting the best of him. And besides, the black-haired one with the sharp eyes was looking at him like he was glowing just because he’d opened the gate to the skate park. He couldn’t just ignore that.

“Ushijima-san, have you invested in a pair of Heelys yet?” Kuroo asked as they all started to walk back up the sloped driveway, heading towards the recreation center’s information desk. Kuroo made sure to keep his tone polite and as far from needling as possible, since he was more than aware that he asked Ushijima this question a lot. It was just that Kuroo had noticed that his thighs were of a particular musculature that Kuroo was _certain_ would make him an excellent candidate for using Heelys at top speeds. He was also fond of asking that Sawamura kid who usually worked the night shifts on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, because his thighs were out of this world. Kuroo could only imagine what that guy’s top speeds could be if he really trained properly.

“No, I haven’t.” Ushijima said in a distinctive monotone. He glanced over at the one with strangely buoyant gray hair, then over to the slightly flushed black-haired one. At the latter’s expression, he softened his voice.

“…I did look online to check out some different styles, though.”

It was almost sad how both sets of eyes widened, brightened, and got a little too close to showing utter pride when they glanced at him, Ushijima thought as he opened the door for them. They headed past him, Bokuto doing little donuts on his Heelys and Kuroo meandering over to lean on the desk where Ushijima took a seat. He had a little bit of paperwork to do before he could go out to the actual skate park structure and supervise, and it wasn’t like he really needed to be out there when only the two of them would be skating. Or rolling, whatever.

That was another thing that made Ushijima pause and stare at the two in front of him curiously; they almost never got injured. He’d seen them fall plenty of times—and he was using the term ‘fall’ lightly, since a more accurate description of their mishaps was more towards crashing to the ground and skidding along the pavement, even doing barrel rolls at times. They were overenthusiastic and careless with their bodies. It was almost as if they thought they were invincible because they had an abundance of protective gear on, which, now that Ushijima made the connection, might’ve been the key to many of their saving graces.

But then he remembered one specific time when the gray-haired one had been recording a video of the black-haired one—he really ought to put some effort into remembering their names—while he launched himself from one end of the park to the other, claiming that he’d definitely pick up enough speed to leap over the entirety of a seven foot long metal bar. Needless to say, he was obliterated. But then right before Ushijima’s eyes as he ran over to see if he needed any help, the sharp-eyed guy had gotten right back up without anything more substantial than a scratch on his jaw and a frown. That was one of many, _many_ close calls from either of the two Heelys obsessed teens that left no scars behind and Ushijima was able to witness firsthand.

He had, however, heard horror stories from his coworkers about the people _around_ the two of them getting minor injuries. Toes that were ran over, fingers that got ran over, bodies that were used as catching mats when one of the two went too fast and didn’t have time to stomp their toes down and _brake_. Shaking his head and shivering, Ushijima glanced up at Kuroo and smiled politely before getting to work on his paperwork. Kuroo seemed to get the hint, pulling back from the counter and skating backwards in a frozen position, smirking, before pulling to a stop and turning to his counterpart. Bokuto was still doing donuts in the hallway, which they all _knew_ was prohibited—he could leave _scuff marks_ on the linoleum—so Kuroo made quick work of ushering him down the hallway and back out into the crisp air.

The skate park wasn’t anything extraordinary. It had the same general structure as all other skate parks in the area, looking like a massive pool without water with a few horizontal bars lying about, and a few tabletop areas that Kuroo was still a little too sketched out to try just yet, even years later. Bokuto, however, was convinced that he would master them before Kuroo and usually ended up trying to use his speed to leap up and over them. Typically he managed to leap up and bounce right off of them, not able to jump high enough and subsequently pushing himself literally right down to the ground in a crumpled heap.

The moment they stepped outside, they both paused to inhale the mixed scent of distant burnt rubber from the auto shop up the street and the faint, indistinguishable flowery scent that came from the mountainside to their left, immediately outside the gate of the park. It was covered mostly in shrubs and weeds, but most of the weeds had small blossoming flowers that were heavily pollinated and caused some serious allergic reactions in Spring. Bokuto was especially known for getting allergies, though that never stopped him from making it to the skate park, much to every employee and visitor’s irritation. Snotty nose and blotted cheeks or not, Bokuto wouldn’t miss a chance to skate.

“Okay, where should we race to first? The tabletop by the broken lamp?” Bokuto’s rubbing his hands together, mouth hanging open in an excited little _ah~_

“Did you already stretch?” Kuroo asks, not wanting to stray from the Heelys checklist of Things To Do Before You Heel. He’d found the list online and printed it out to put under his bed, studying it for months until he knew it verbatim. He still has it under his bed for safekeeping even though he knows every line without needing to look.

“Sure did!” Bokuto answers, dropping to an uneven crouch and flexing one leg out to the side. _Showoff_ , Kuroo thought, grinning.

“Okay, then the tabletop by the broken lamp it is.”

Bokuto and Kuroo both get into position with their dominant foot in front of their other foot and one hand holding on to the chain link fence at their backs. They eased their breathing and at last Bokuto began the countdown. At one, they both lunged forward and sped towards their target, two blurs of black and yellow skating as fast as they could with perfectly aligned posture. Kuroo was smirking, his teeth showing as he was confident of the win while Bokuto’s mouth was a train tunnel releasing a high-pitched horn as a battle cry. Kuroo thought that particular move foolish, since he’d need as much oxygen as possible to better fuel his muscles to give them more strength.

Yet when they finally made it to the tabletop beneath the broken lamp, Bokuto was right there beside him, hooting and hollering about winning. Kuroo’s smirk dropped to a scowl, his pointed finger immediately rising up to object.

“I don’t know why you’re celebrating when I was the one who won.”

Bokuto stopped spinning on his heels immediately, turning and finally noticing that Kuroo was right there with him. He eyed him, dubious, before shaking his head and grunting, “No way bro, I was here first.”

“Was not,” Kuroo denied, shaking his head. They were quiet for a moment, sizing each other up with solemn expressions before almost simultaneously relaxing. Bokuto rubbed at the back of his head, sliding his fingers up and through his hair playfully. Kuroo scratched at a sideburn, his lips curling up into an embarrassed smirk as his cheeks flushed.

“We kind of did get here at the same time,” Bokuto relented, shrugging.

“We’ll settle it with another challenge,” Kuroo decided, pointer rising up again, but this time to accompany his idea. They both glanced around the empty skate park, seeking a newer and more difficult challenge. After a brief moment, Bokuto straightened, his wide eyes bright with excitement.

“Ten bucks says I can get more air off that jump with my _newer_ and far superior Heelys,” he jibed, flashing the side of his yellow Heelys at Kuroo tauntingly. Kuroo ignored the dig and fastened his eyes on Bokuto’s, letting him see the intensity pooling there.

“You’re on,” he replied.

They headed over to the jumping area and both of them successfully completed their own individual jumps, getting so high up they must’ve been _at least_ a foot off the ground, a new record for each of them. Just like they had with their first speed race, they began to argue petulantly over whom had won by getting more air off the jump. Bokuto seemed to think that he had gotten high enough to jump over a dog, while Kuroo was absolutely certain that he could’ve leapt over a small child. They even began to contemplate actually getting to test those two predictions, and somewhere within the recreation center Ushijima straightened, a random bad feeling twisting in his gut. For some reason he wasn’t quite sure about, he was thankful that at that moment they were the only two people he had at the park.

Ultimately, they both humbled themselves and concluded that the height of each of their jumps had been too close to judge, so they both paid each other ten bucks. After that, they really just wanted to work on training and recording some clips to upload to their Vine and Instagram accounts. So for a while they just did their own thing all over the park, still the only people there, practicing their speed and their jumps and crashing into and onto things more often than not. Kuroo was a little more sure-footed, but that came with being a Heelys veteran. His speed was far superior to Bokuto’s once he focused and got his blood pumping well and true to his legs, but as he sprinted around the perimeter of the park in perfectly upright posture with his hands tucked into his pockets, he noticed with narrowed eyes that Bokuto’s jumps seemed to be improving at a steady, dangerous pace.

Once they were finally done practicing on their own, Bokuto skated up alongside Kuroo on his last lap around the perimeter, tucking his hands into his pockets as well. Their posture was perfectly mirrored in each other, barely having to move to jet around the park.

“So I was thinking, before we start filming today,” Bokuto began, sounding a little embarrassed. Kuroo glanced over at him with a raised brow, a little concerned. Bokuto had the tiniest of flushes trailing over his cheeks.

“Well, you know how everyone knows you as Hot Wheels? Like on Vine and Insta? Well I was thinking that I should come up with a sick nickname too. Something really cool, ya know?”

Kuroo was already nodding his head in agreement, looking ahead of him for safety reasons. Heelys were awesome and powerful but they often fell victim to rocks and cracks in the pavement and even slips of paper, too, so one could never be too careful with them.

“Yeah man, I feel you,” Kuroo replied, already brainstorming. “You watch Game of Thrones?”

“No?” Bokuto responded. “Should I?”

“Nah, I was just thinking. There’s this brutal character that they call The Mountain That Rides, and I was thinking you could be The Owl That Rides, but never mind.”

“Hmm,” Bokuto hummed, his right wheel hitting a rock and sending him abruptly crashing to the ground with a violent wheeze. Kuroo pressed forward to a stop and turned to see if Bokuto needed help up, but he was already dusting himself off and readjusting his helmet, his expression unchanged—equally as pensive as it had been before his close encounter with the pavement.

“The Growl,” Bokuto mumbles, shaking his head immediately afterwards. They started to skate side-by-side again, building right back up to their originally intended rapid pace. It was almost impossible to tell that Bokuto had just fallen, crumpled, and skidded across the asphalt.

“He Hoo Must Not Be Named?” Kuroo suggested, but Bokuto was shaking his head.

“Whirlwind wheeler?”

“Heel fire?”

“Honey Nut Heely-o’s?”

“This is tough,” Bokuto finally admitted, smiling wryly.

“We can wait ‘till we come up with a good one and then make a Vine especially for introducing it?” Bokuto tilted his head, considering it. A moment later he was smirking, nodding his head and throwing his hands out dramatically.

“We’ll make it this _huge_ event! No one will ever forget it.” Kuroo nodded, grinning. Bokuto’s expression was still jubilant when he turned to Kuroo, slightly more solemn now that he was getting into professional videographer mode.

“Okay, I’ll film you first.”

Bokuto gestured for Kuroo to hand over his camcorder, slipping his hand into the strap and bringing it up to his eyes. Kuroo secured all of his protective gear and gave Bokuto a thumbs up.

They spent the next couple of hours filming various stunts, sprints, tricks, and brutal falls until the sun was directly over the park, heating their skin and making them sweat. By the time they were finished and heading towards the exit, a few neighborhood kids had entered the park and were skateboarding around, greeting them by name and taunting them as per usual. They walked past Ushijima and wished him a swell rest of his day, to which he replied, “See you next time…Kuroo-san…Bokuto-san…” and they grinned the entire time they skated back to Kuroo’s apartment, surprised and elated that he’d finally remembered their names.

They were so wrapped up in their surprised elation, in fact, that when they came up on Kuroo’s street corner they didn’t look closely enough at the sidewalk and what was undoubtedly the garbage Kuroo had smelled earlier that morning, now remembered and sitting out by the street. Kuroo and Bokuto both crash-landed directly into the garbage, sending bits and pieces flying and getting covered in what smelled and felt like a mixture of things, really, but mostly oil and grease.

Kuroo picked a half-eaten piece of fish off of his shoulder and smirked.

He’d been right about the cod.

✧

After both Bokuto and Kuroo took turns using Kuroo’s shower to get the smell and the actual filth of Kuroo’s neighbor’s garbage off of their skin, they threw their clothes into the laundry and started uploading their videos to their shared Vine and Instagram accounts. Bokuto was sitting perched with his hands on the chair between his vertically bent legs, wide eyes watching as Kuroo edited each of their chosen videos.

Halfway through one of the last videos he made a squawking sound, causing Kuroo to freeze. He lunged forward until his face was inches away from Kuroo’s computer screen, staring intently for just a second before a wicked smirk came over his face and he turned smugly to Kuroo. Curious, Kuroo looked where Bokuto had been staring just prior, searching. His eyes finally settled on the prize, a slightly blurry but unmistakable shot of Ushijima standing on the inside of the recreation center, staring intently out at them while they were filming. His posture was tense and straight as usual, not a single hair out of place, but the expression on his face was _everything_.

Even through the slight blurriness of the camera—which Bokuto had for some reason turned to film something for just three seconds over by the recreation center while Kuroo was doing _mad tricks_ behind him, that were not even being _filmed_ (and he was later told it was because Bokuto had seen a bird)—they could clearly see the expression of pained interest on Ushijima’s face, his lips tightly puckered but his eyes bright and animated as he watched Kuroo come to life in his Heelys.

“Bro,” Kuroo whispered, reverent.

“ _Bro_ ,” Bokuto returned, positively beaming. They turned to each other and spoke at exactly the same time.

“He totally wants to shred with us!”

“He’s totally going to get some Heelys!”

They had a moment of deep bonding, then, bringing their knuckles together and making exploding noises from their mouths as their palms opened and their fingers waggled at each other. Kuroo looked back to the film and took a screenshot of the frozen frame, just in case Ushijima ever denied interest again. Kuroo wasn’t above bringing the picture in and holding it up as proof that Ushijima couldn’t lie to them or make excuses anymore. Kuroo wasn’t entirely sure why Bokuto was so invested in converting people over to wearing Heelys and competing with them, but Kuroo figured it was just that: he wanted more people to compete with.

Kuroo’s desires were along the same branch, though he really only cared about a few distinct people, such as one powerfully-built Ushijima Wakatoshi, Sawamura Daichi with his powerhouse thighs, and Oikawa Tooru, who was long and lean and lithe and looked like he could tear through the air like magic. Kuroo didn’t want to challenge just anyone; he wanted strong opponents to crush with his Heelys.

With their moods brightened even more than they had been before, which was really saying something considering they’d gotten to go to the skate park, Ushijima had _remembered their names_ , and now this frozen frame of glory, Bokuto and Kuroo posted their videos and watched their fans react and respond to their sick moves within seconds.

“You know,” Bokuto began, spinning on his chair. “I’ve been thinking of trying to get Akaashi into Heelys.”

Kuroo’s brow quirked, his interest piqued. Akaashi Keiji had potential to be an interesting Heelys opponent, though he held nowhere near the same level of Kuroo’s interest as the aforementioned three captains did. Still, he had to admit the idea was enticing.

“Haven’t we already tried to get him to try on a pair of our Heelys?” he asked, frowning and rubbing at his jaw as he tried to remember. Bokuto was nodding, still spinning wildly on the chair. When he responded, his voice was distorted.

“Yeah, remember? I offered to let him try mine on since you were being stingy, and he said no, it was gross. And when I offered to help him get a new pair he said _heck_ no.”

“Ah,” Kuroo sighed, finally putting a finger on the memory. It was exactly as Bokuto had described, he could remember it vividly now. He hadn’t wanted to let anyone else touch his Heelys, even if he was a potential future opponent. If it had been one of his Big Three…well, maybe. Maybe he’d let them try on his Heelys, but _only_ if they signed some sort of contract stating that they would train for some period of time and give him a proper race around the city or something.

Or if they wanted to try to outclass him in Heelys parkour, he would agree to that too. He’d been practicing, skating through alleys and using only one leg to balance while trying to touch his free wheel to the wall beside him. He’d sort of almost died a couple of times, but luckily the alley he trained in was usually stocked full of old thrown out mattresses for him to crash into. It was a wonderful location.

“We’ll figure out a way to get him into it,” Kuroo promised, every line of him resolute. Bokuto slammed his feet down and stopped spinning so abruptly he groaned, his eyes rolling around a bit and struggling to focus. When they were finally able to see just one of Kuroo, he grinned.

“Ushijima will be easy now. Who are you planning on next? The kid with the thighs? Or the pretty one?”

“I think I can finagle a way to get both of them at once.” Kuroo smirked, ducking his head slightly so that his fluffed up hair and bangs cast half of his face in shadow. Oh, he had plans in motion already. If all went according to his plans, he’d have both of them in brand new pairs of Heelys and standing next to him, prepping to race within a few months.

He moved his cursor over to open a new bookmarked page, showing a list of Heelys rentals that were due to be delivered to his place within the next few days. He wasn’t certain that making his team wear Heelys during practice would actually strengthen their reflexes, though that was definitely a possibility because really, how could he question the influence of Heelys?

However, he was certain that the captains of Karasuno and Aobajousai, who just so happened to be visiting his school and his _gym_ in the next couple of days, would walk in on the entirety of Nekoma wearing Heelys and skating around the court—the levels of their speed, agility, and flexibility all skyrocketing. Nekoma had been doing phenomenally in the high school standings since he’d become captain, so they were clearly doing something right under his leadership. Even so, he knew the other captains well enough to know that at first they’d write his theory off, then they’d get _curious,_ and then downright close to accepting albeit with a skeptical edge. Even if they walked away from his school claiming that he and his ideas were ridiculous, he had a feeling that Heelys would be in their thoughts for a while after the fact.

And with the thoughts of Heelys always came the reminder of Kuroo. He was like a shadow in their minds, watching and waiting, unforgettable even if ridiculous. They’d come back to him eventually, begging to race him.

Kuroo reached into his lap to where his overturned Heelys lay and flicked absentmindedly at one wheel, listening to it whir and smirking widely.

Sooner or later they’d get a taste of the power of Hot Wheels. 

That was a promise.

**Author's Note:**

> Kuroo's [shirt](http://s15.postimg.org/jk3m4u4a3/bb453wb_w800h800z1_47001_heelys_dont_have_break.jpg) and [Heelys](http://s23.postimg.org/5kr0efxkb/2209243_p_MULTIVIEW.jpg)
> 
> Bokuto's [shirt](http://s24.postimg.org/lqrmty2d1/bb453wp_w800h800z1_57309_heelys_on_haters_off.jpg) and [Heelys](http://s4.postimg.org/wno96ftd9/2209258_p_MULTIVIEW.jpg)
> 
> More honorable Internet history search mentions from Kuroo’s first year with his Heelys:  
> Is it legal to wear your heelys to school  
> It is legal to wear your heelys to work  
> Where is it not legal to wear heelys  
> Popular celebrities who wear heelys  
> Heelys research articles showing improved agility?  
> Most efficient heelys type  
> Most efficient heelys type made in 2012 that are red and black  
> Does the most efficient heelys type really only come in yellow


End file.
